Dear Prime Minister,

As you know we have had many discussions in person, by text and by phone on the matter of my candidature
for the position of UN SG over the last six months or more since you became PM.
You will also recall that we discussed this matter on many occasions prior to you becoming PM as well
You will recall that last September I contacted you asking for guidance on how I should address the matter of
your previously stated support to me for my candidature when I met Foreign Minister Bishop at the UN General
Assembly in September. You in fact sent me a message on your preferred Wickr system where you stated that
you and the FM were "as one" in your support for my candidature.
You will also recall I came to see you in your Parliament House office on 11 November last year where we
discussed the matter at length. Once again you restated your position of support for my candidature. You went
further to ask for a list of governments whom you would need to lobby at a prime ministerial level in the future.
We continued this discussion further on Wednesday 23 December in your Sydney office. Once again you
stated your support for my candidature. You added that when the time came to lodge my nomination, you now
wanted to take it to Cabinet to avoid the perception of a "captain's pick". You also said to me that the Cabinet
process would not change the outcome.
Based on those assurances, in good faith, I have been informally sounding out governments around the world
in terms of their support for my candidature. In fact the Foreign Minister confirmed that I was doing that in one
of her more recent press conferences. You will appreciate that I would not have been in the business of
approaching governments, even informally, had you expressed any doubt about my candidature in any of our
previous conversations.
These communications leave to one side the multiple conversations we had on the subject of my possible
candidature prior to you assuming the Prime Ministership. You had always said to me that the Australian
government would be "mad" not to support my candidature. You will recall saying the same in person to me
when we met at my place in New York last year.
You will be aware that my formal written request for support from the government was lodged with your office
one month ago. In that written request, I indicated the timing of Cabinet consideration was of course a matter
for you; but that I needed to be fully compliant with UN protocols which would require nominations to be lodged
with the UN by early May.
You will understand therefore how shocked I was to receive your telephone call within the last couple of hours,
just prior to your taking the matter to Cabinet in Canberra. In your telephone call you said that neither you nor
the Cabinet would be supporting my nomination. When I asked the reasons for this, you said that neither you
nor the Cabinet has the view that "I had the qualifications for the position". You will appreciate that you have
never expressed that view to me in the multiple conversations we have had on this matter on the past.
As you are now taking the matter to Cabinet, could I respectfully request that you reconsider the government's
position. I believe it is important for an Australian to be considered for such a position by the international
community. Furthermore, I have been encouraged by multiple governments around the world, from all
continents, to be a candidate.
Finally, you will appreciate that I have consistently demonstrated a practice in office of appointing leading
individuals from both sides of politics to significant diplomatic appointments abroad. My request for support of
my nomination is not even a request for an appointment. It is simply a request for a nomination. I note that the
government of New Zealand has adopted this practice in relation to former Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Based on your many statements to me over a long period of time, I had expected from you at least the same
approach.
It would then simply be a matter for the international community to decide who was the best candidate for the
role.
Your sincerely
Kevin Rudd
26th Prime Minister of Australia.